


12 a.m.

by BlackKyber



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, kylux - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren Fluff, Boys Kissing, Coming Out, Crushes, Dorms, Drunken Kissing, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluffy Ending, Gay Male Character, I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylux - Freeform, Kylux is my OTP, Living Together, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Prep School, Roommates, Secret Crush, Senpai Notice Me, Young Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-24 12:36:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16640231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackKyber/pseuds/BlackKyber
Summary: Armitage Hux, 16, has been living for the past few years at the Hosnian Preparatory School for Boys, a prestigious private boarding school located in the hills far above town. Hux excels at his studies, and is involved with several extracurricular activities. However, one thing that Hux can't seem to ignore much longer is his loneliness. Like all the other students, he lives in a spacious, two-bedroom dormitory apartment ... except, due to somewhat embarrassing circumstances, Hux is without a roommate.That all changes the day a new boy is assigned to live with him. Together, the two develop a fast, easy friendship, and find joy in each others company. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this arrangement ... or could it?





	12 a.m.

Hux walked slowly to his student mailbox, noting with mild surprise that there was a piece of paper stuffed behind the glass. He was tired, and his legs were somewhat achy, after having run around and around the indoor track in his preferred form of exercise. 

He punched in the 3 digit combination and pulled the paper out — and nearly dropped it again in shock.

Hux had been attending the Hosnian Preparatory School for Boys since about a year and a half ago. It was a boarding school, consisting of about 100 students and a handful of professors and faculty and staff members to run the place.

The school was large, and quite prestigious-looking, with huge ivy-clad white walls, a pond, and a small forest to its southern border. It was nestled in the steep hills high above the town below, the great building looking down on the smaller houses like a master looks down on its servants. 

The building hosted a large separate wing for the dormitories. Each dorm consisted of two bedrooms, a small bathroom, a moderate sized kitchen, and a living room area. 

Hux had been living in his dormitory by himself since the beginning of the new year, some several months ago. His roommate at the time had chosen to leave, because Hux had admitted to him that he was gay.

“It’s no hard feelings, man,” he had explained as he packed his things, “But that’s just like, weird, to me. You can understand that, right?”

And Hux HAD understood, even if the situation made him somewhat sad. And so had the Dean, when the two boys explained the situation to him. So the other boy went to room with somebody else, and Hux, was alone. 

But it wasn’t as if though Hux didn’t have ‘friends’ here. People liked him, and were nice to him, and, with the exception of his former roommate, never said anything that would hurt Hux’s feelings in regards to his sexuality. 

But nobody wanted to actually LIVE with him. So at home, he was alone.And he had gotten used to being alone, and accepted that that’s the way it would always be, while he was at this school.

Or, so he’d thought.

The little piece of paper in his hand (which, as told by the date, Hux had received several days ago but had failed to check his mailbox in that time) informed him that there was a new arrival to the school, a Benjamin Solo, and he was scheduled to room with Hux.

And he would be moving in ... today.

Hux hurried along back to the dorms, wondering what this new guy would be like. As he rounded the corner, he saw that the space in front of his door was covered with a variety of boxes, and as he got closer, someone stepped out from the open door, and looked at him.

A tall boy, slightly taller than Hux, and muscular. He had a broad chest and sturdy looking arms. His skin was very pale, making Hux think that he probably didn’t spend a lot of time outdoors, and was sprinkled with little black moles all over his face and neck. He had dark eyes and thick dark hair, and a long nose. His lips were full, and a pleasant natural red, and they were smiling.

“Hi,” he said, stepping forward. His voice was deep and somewhat nasally. “Dean Tarkin brought me here. He said my roommate was a redhead. You must be ... Armitage?”

Hux extended his hand and shook the other boys. “I just go by Hux. You’re Benjamin?”

“Ben.”

“You need help carrying your stuff in?”

Ben nodded. “Yes, Thanks. I looked around a bit; I assume the bedroom with nothing in it is the one I’m taking?”

“Yup. You’re lucky, it’s the nicer one. It gets the most sun.”

The two moved boxes from the hallway and down the apartment into Ben’s room, making small talk along the way. Hux was relieved that Ben seemed to be a nice person.

“This place is like, a LOT nicer looking than all the online pictures make it look like. And everything’s so ... so _clean_. Not at all like public school.”

“I’m just really surprised that you agreed to room with me,” Hux told him, moving in another box. This one was heavy, and he set it down with a huff. 

“Why?”

Hux felt a small panic bubble up in his chest. He ... Ben KNEW, didn’t he? Shit; if not, Hux thought he should hold off on bringing in more boxes until he had explained himself.

“The dean ... when he assigned you to this room, he DID tell you, right? I mean, he told you about me?”

Ben set down his own box and sat on top of it, looking at Hux. He used his fingertip to wipe away a bit of sweat from his forehead.

“Yeah. Dean Tarkin said that you were a future political science major, that you’re captain of the debate team, that —“

“No, no,” Hux interrupted, now more nervous than ever. “He didn’t tell you _anything else_? Like, why I’ve been boarding by myself this past school year?”

Grinning, Ben said, 

“Oh, yeah. He said that you were OCD, and a control freak, and that nobody was able to handle your holier-than-thou attitude.”

Hux’s face reddened in anger. “What?!”

Ben burst out laughing, so hard that he had to clutch his sides for support. When he had calmed down a bit, he said, still snickering,

“Relax, man, I’m kidding.”

Hux let out a sigh of relief. But, still, did Ben ...

More serious now, Ben continued: “If you’re talking about the ... the gay thing, yes, he told me. He gave me a long speech about how ‘open and inclusive’ the school is about ‘alternative lifestyles’, but he also said that he didn’t want any of the boys to be put into a situation where they might feel uncomfortable.”

Hux was silent for a few moments, before asking, timidly,

“And ... you still agreed to room with me?”

Ben shrugged, then stood up, going into the hallway for another box. As he brought it in, he said,

“I really don’t care what you like or don’t like in your own private life, man. What I DO care about it whether you’ll play loud music at 3am when I’m trying to sleep, or burn food so bad that you set off the fire alarms.”

Hux laughed, feeling significantly more light-hearted than he had at the start of the conversation. He went into the hallway and picked up another box.

“Well, I DO listen to music at 3am, if I’m studying, but I wear headphones so you won’t hear it. And it’s kinda hard to burn food when all you can ‘cook’ is cereal and noodles.”

“Well, shit, then, you’re lucky I’m here. Among my many talents: I can cook SPAGHETTI. And hot dogs and beans.”

“Wow,” said Hux, laughing again. “Could this be ... the best day EVER?!”

“It WILL be once I’ve got all this shit unpacked,” Ben said, and both boys laughed again.

... ... ...

“You’re not gonna go?”

Hux shook his head, taking another bite of his cereal. 

“Nope. You have fun, though.”

It was a few weeks later, and the boys had adjusted to living with each other nicely. Ben had been correct in that he possessed limited culinary skills in making a few dishes, which rounded out Hux’s otherwise bland and routine diet. 

The two didn’t see each other much during the daytime, as each had classes to attend. In the afternoons, Hux had his debate team meetings, and Ben, having revealed himself to be a somewhat artistic type, had joined up with the school photography club. He ran around constantly with a camera, snapping photographs of any and everything that caught his interest.

In the evenings, they would both sit in their small living room, eating, watching tv, and doing homework. 

It was more pleasant than Hux had thought it would be, having a roommate. His days felt considerably brightened, knowing that at the end of the day, he wasn’t just coming back to an empty dorm. It was as if Ben’s presence had created a drop of artificial sunshine that followed him to whatever room he went to.

Other people felt more comfortable in dropping by now, too, upon realizing that they wouldn’t be alone with just Hux there. Ben seemed to be quick at making friends; he had a highly charismatic quality to him that Hux was envious of. He also had a good sense of humor; he had told Hux once, after two of his photography friends left after completing a project, that they had asked him whether he and the redhead were “roommates with benefits”.

“Seriously?”, Hux had asked, shaking his head. “What did you say?”

“I said that the only ‘benefit’ happening was that you’re cool to hang out with. I also said that just because a person is gay, that doesn’t mean they’re putting the damn moves on EVERY dude that they see.”

Hux was surprised, that Ben had reacted as such. If the situation had been reversed, Hux would have gotten angry, and would likely not have come up with as articulate an answer.

“You think I’m cool to hang out with? All I do is sit here and read, most of the time.”

“Either accept the compliment, or you’re not getting any dinner.”, Ben had replied, standing and going into the kitchen.

“What dinner?”

“I’m making dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets!”

Hux had laughed, yelled “Okay! Compliment accepted!”, and followed Ben into the kitchen.

That had been last week. Tonight, there was a special event going on in the schools gymnasium. Every few months, the school invited the students of Sister Martha’s Preparatory School for Girls that was in the next city for what they called a ‘Social Mixer.’ There would be snacks, drinks, music, and of course, supervision. Ben wanted to go, and was trying to convince Hux to go with.

Hux was ‘unreceptive’, to say the least.

But Ben didn’t give up yet. He plopped himself down on the chair facing Hux.

“Oh, come on, man. I know you’re allergic to fun, but this’ll be good for you. Plus, come on, don’t you wanna see some boobs after this never-ending sausage fest?”

Again, Hux shook his head. “Nope. I’m good.”

Ben huffed in exaggeration. “Why the fuck —“, he began, and then he clapped his hand over his mouth, a thought finally getting through to him.

“Oh, shit; I completely forgot that you’re gay!”

Hux laughed and nodded. “Jeez, are you suffering from memory loss or something? How could you forget that?!”

Ben’s face had turned a bit red in a blush. 

“Well, it’s not like you ACT gay. You act so normal, that sometimes I forget, that —“

Here he stopped himself again, looking even more embarrassed.

“Fuck, I’m being stupid tonight. I’m sorry; I’m not like, trying to imply that gay people aren’t normal or anything.”

“Would it help you out, if I walked around here in booty shorts, and cowboy boots, and a bright rainbow tank top?”

“Hux, seriously, I didn’t mean—“

Hux burst out laughing, so hard he had to set down his cereal bowl to avoid spilling the milk. 

“Relax, I’m kidding, douchebag. Go. Have a good time. Bag a hottie or two.”

Now it was Ben’s turn to burst into laughter. “Bag a hottie? Yeah ok, what are the odds a girl is gonna wanna ‘bag’ a random guy she’s just met?”

“I’m sure you can find someone with no problem. You’re ... I’m not trying to like, hit on you, here, but you’re not exactly ugly.”

Ben’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’m not?”

Hux shook his head. “Nope. Plus you’re NEW. The girls from there have been to so many mixers here that they know practically all the dudes already. Once they spot you they’ll probably be flocking to you all night. So, go. Have fun.”

Ben started to turn towards his room to get dressed, then stopped, and, facing Hux, timidly asked,

“What about your fun?”

“What do you mean?”

“This mixer is for guys to meet girls. But you don’t like that. So, how do you ... how do you meet _other_ , um ....”

Hux sighed and shrugged. “It’s really not a big deal. Nobody at this school is like me, or if they are, they’re closeted. I figure my time for all of that will be college. Only 2 years to go!”

He had said that last bit as a joke, but Ben didn’t seem to think it was funny at all. Speaking slowly, he said,

“I’m sure ... I’m sure that down below these hills, there’s places, like clubs and stuff, for people that are like you. Maybe one day, we can sneak away, we can go and check them out?”

Hux tilted his head and looked at him, confused. “Why would YOU want to come with ME to a gay club?”

Was Ben _blushing_?  
It certainly seemed like it.

“For ... to support you. Isn’t that what friends are supposed to do? Support each other?”

“That’s a good question. Personally, I wouldn’t know. My whole life, I’ve never been quick to make friends, or _keep_ them, for that matter.”

Ben stepped forward and put his hand on Hux’s shoulder, squeezing. “Well, shit, you’ve got one now. And at some point we are DEFINITELY going down the hills.”

He turned away now and began walking to his room, to get ready. Over his shoulder, he called,

“Gay, straight, whatever — guys NEED to get laid. It’s science.”

Hux sat quietly after Ben left, thinking over his words.

In truth, Hux was a little scared at the concept of romance, because of what had happened two years ago. 

He had been 14, and just starting to explore his sexuality. He had always known from a young age that he thought other boys were cute, but he had kept his feelings to himself, as he didn’t think others would understand this at all. He had had a friend at the time, who was also exploring his feelings.

The two began meeting in secret, in each other’s bedrooms, to explore and experiment with each other. Always under the guise of ‘homework’ and ‘studying’.

One day, they had been busily making out in Hux’s bedroom, and made the timid decision to try sex. They undressed each other and got back into bed, still making out. But before things could go further, Hux’s father came home early from work, and pushed in his sons bedroom door, which Hux had stupidly forgotten to lock.

The results of that door opening had turned Hux’s world upside down.

The other boy’s parents had been called, and they came to collect their son, the mother sobbing and the father looking ALMOST as angry as Hux’s father did. The two were forbidden from seeing or contacting each other. Hux’s father had been so disgusted, so unable to face the truth about his son that he had arranged for him to come to this school, locked away in the hills like a dark secret, a shame.

Hux and his father never spoke of the incident that had landed him here, and whenever they did have to see each other, their conversations were brief and stilted. But when Hux had come here, he eventually made the decision to out himself as being gay, first to his roommate, then to others, so that there would never be question or confusion about who he was. A lonely, isolated life, but a TRUE one.

And he did well here.

His grades were excellent, he excelled at his extracurricular activities, and truthfully, he enjoyed the freedom of being out from under his father’s judgmental shadow.

But love?  
Romance?  
_Getting laid?_

All of that would simply have to wait, ‘science’ or not.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Hux got a tighter grip on his travel bag, whistling softly to himself as he walked down the hall to the dorm.

He had been back to his father’s house for the past 3 days, to attend a funeral of a friend of his father’s. He hadn’t liked the man in question, but had gone at his father’s insistence.

He was interested, when he realized that while he was at his father’s house, he kept thinking that he wanted to ‘get back home’. That he now thought of the dorm as being his home, something that he hadn’t felt before. He was also a little excited; tucked away in his bag was a bag of DeathStars, a small, hard Mexican candy that Hux went crazy for, but they didn’t sell or have at the commissary up here. He had told Ben about them before, and couldn’t wait to share some with him.

He walked in, but Ben wasn’t in the living room. So he went down the hall and knocked on his door; no answer, but Hux could hear what sounded like muted music, and a strange, steady metallic clinking noise. The door was already open a tiny crack, so Hux cautiously pushed it the rest of the way open.

Ben was there, his back to Hux. He had his headphones in and was singing along softly to the music. His shirt was off, and he was slowly lifting a rather heavy-looking dumbbell up and down with his right hand. Looking around the floor, up could see more barbells, in assorted sizes, scattered around.

As much as Hux told himself not to ... he couldn’t help but stare, a little. Ben was really fit, and watching the way his muscles moved as he pumped the weight —

 _For fuck’s sake, stop it, Hux!_ , he yelled at himself in his mind. Out-loud, he cleared his throat and said “Ben!” loudly enough to get his attention.

Ben jumped a little, surprised, and then swiftly put the weight down. Still turned around, he popped out his headphones and said,

“Oh, hey, you’re back. How was your trip?”

“Boring. What is all this?”

“Thought I’d buy some stuff to get in shape. I’ve been letting myself go a little since coming here.”

“Is that what the clinking sound I heard was, when I first came in?”

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry; does the noise bother you?”

Hux shook his head, coming a bit further into Ben’s room.

“No. But I’m just curious; like, those weights take up a lot of space. You know that we have a student gym on campus, right? It’s free, and it has a weight room.”

Ben nodded, then picked the weight up with his left hand, continuing to lift.

“Yeah I know. But I could never do this in public.”

“Why not?”

“I prefer to lift without my shirt on.”

Hux folded his arms across his chest, confused. “I’ve seen guys in there with their shirts off, though. So I don’t think you being shirtless would be a problem.”

Ben put down the weight and sighed. He used the towel to wipe his face, and then draped it around his shoulders as he slowly turned to face Hux.

In spite of himself, Hux gasped. Ben’s left side had several large, deep scars, red-white in color, that extended from the bottom of his chest, down his torso, and just grazing the top of his thigh.

“This is why I don’t want to go,” Ben said, quietly. “I really don’t like people to see all of this.”

Before he could stop himself, Hux blurted out, “What happened to you?”; and immediately felt like kicking himself. 

But Ben didn’t seem to take offense to the question. After a few moments, he took a deep breath in through his nose, and said,

“Two years ago I fell in with some bad people. Kind of like a gang, I guess, but on a smaller scale. We used to get into a lot of fights. I got these scars during one of those fights. Mom and dad got sick of my shit, so they sent me away. I went to live with my uncle Luke last year, but then he got sick and he died. I though then I’d get to come back home, because all that time living with Luke I didn’t fuck up once; but I guess mom and dad don’t care about that, ‘cuz they sent me HERE instead.”

Here he paused, letting out a little snorting chuckle. 

“I guess I should be grateful; I know this place is really hard to get into, and mom keeps saying how good it’ll look on a college application. My test scores were never THAT good, but, well, my dad is friends with Mr. Calrissian, the admissions officer; so, here I am.”

Hux was quiet for a moment, taking that all in. He hadn’t suspected that Ben would have had such a tumultuous past. 

“I’m sorry, man,” he eventually said in a low voice. “Next time, feel free to tell me to mind my own fucking business, if I’m asking shit that’s too personal.”

Ben shrugged, then smiled. “It’s okay. All that’s the past, and you’ve got to let the past die. I prefer to focus on the now: I’m in a good school, my grades are good, and I have a really cool roommate who’s about to surprise me and order a pizza with olives and pepperoni while I’m in the shower.”

Hux laughed and raised an eyebrow.

“I am?”

Ben nodded. “You totally are. For emotional pain and distress.”

Hux shook his head and turned to leave. “I guess I can’t argue with that logic,” he said, before closing the door and leaving Ben to shower.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

“You look like death.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Seriously, if i had a dictionary and looked up the word Death, your picture would be right there; a redhead in a grim reaper robe.”

Hux sighed, and blew his nose. “Shut up or I’ll throw my snot-rag at you. THEN we’ll see who looks like death, once YOU get sick.”

Ben laughed and went into the kitchen. He returned in several moments with a hot bowl, which he placed down carefully on the table in front of Hux.

“You kill me, then who’ll be here to microwave Campbell’s Chicken and Stars soup for you? Which, I might add, you’re WAY too old for.”

Hux rolled his eyes, then took a bite.

The past several days had been miserable for him. The weather had turned unseasonably cold at the beginning of the week, and that change brought to Hux a case of the sniffles. Sniffles turned into sneezes, then sneezes, to coughing. Before he knew it, he was knee-deep in tissues and Robitussin. He was fortunate in that the medicine helped him enough to get him through the school week without missing any class, but now, on the weekend, he fully intended to rest.

He had asked Ben if he’d be bothered if Hux rested in the living room rather than his bedroom, so that he could watch tv. Ben replied that he didn’t, and he would likely go out soon anyway.

So Hux set up shop on the couch, arming himself with a box of tissues, several water bottles, and a cup of honey-laced tea. He kept expecting Ben to leave at any moment ... but he never did. Instead he wandered around the apartment, cleaning, eating, watching tv with Hux, and now, making him soup.

“Nothing good is on,” Hux observed as Ben flipped through the channels. “That’s disappointing; good stuff to watch is part of my therapy.”

“How? Shouldn’t sleeping, not watching tv, be a part of your ‘therapy’?”

“No, it’s just ... that’s something my mom used to do when I was sick. She’d sit with me and we’d watch a VHS of one of my favorite movies. It’d make me feel better.”

Here he paused, laughing a little to himself. The laughing brought on another coughing spell, and he turned his head away, expelling the painful emissions into the crook of his robed arm. When it was over, he quickly blew his nose, before continuing:

“When I was like, 6, I had the stomach flu for a little over a week. Absolutely miserable, puking every few minutes, couldn’t even keep sips of water down. Had to go to the ER at one point and get those clear bags hooked up to me, because I was so dehydrated. Anyway, we must have watched Honey I Blew Up The Kid a hundred times that week. Dad said that if he came home from work one more time and that movie was playing, HE’D throw up.”

“So your mom was like, a stay at home mom?”

Hux nodded. Taking another small sip of tea, he said,

“Yes, and no. She was at home but she worked from home. She had a small wedding invitation business that she set up a little shop for in the basement. Full of these old-school printers, a bunch of different papers, lots of stuff. She made the most beautiful things, Ben.”

Here he stopped, looking off into the corner. He had to clear his throat several times, because he suddenly felt as though he was close to tears. Ben let him have his moment, tactfully busying himself by straightening up the errant tissues, empty water bottles and drained soup bowl and carrying them to kitchen.

When he came back, he had a new water bottle which he placed in front of Hux. Hux had gotten himself under control now, and he opened the bottle, taking a few cautious, slow drinks.

“I don’t think my parents did anything special like that, when I was sick,” Ben said thoughtfully. “Like the movie thing, I mean. Most of the time dad would be the one home with me, because mom worked full-time at the City Center.”

“What did she do?”

Ben smiled ruefully. “What _didnt_ she do? She organized charity drives and fundraisers, she helped get a lot of homeless shelters and counseling centers started, just — everything. So good at solving the problems of the world. Everything but in her own house.”

He looked up guiltily after saying that last bit, as if he hadn’t meant to let that slip out. As Ben has done for him earlier, Hux let him have his moment, taking the time to drink more water and blow his nose again.

When he looked back, Ben stood up.

“Will you be okay if I go somewhere real quick?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

Ben nodded, and went to pull on his jacket. He left without another word, pulling the door closed behind him.

Hux nodded in and out of sleep, tossing and turning on the couch. A light touch on his shoulder startled him out of near-slumber, and his eyes focused on Ben’s face.

He was smiling.

“I have a surprise for you,” he said, holding up a small clear case in which sat a round disc. Ben went to the DVD player and inserted the disc.

Hux’s eyes went wide as a familiar sequence of opening titles rolled across the screen.

“Oh my god! Where did you get this?!”

Ben shrugged and sat down in the chair beside the couch. “In the library’s rental section. They have a whole bunch of old movies like this, but I thought maybe you’d feel better if you watched this.”

Hux was touched, that Ben would go out of his way like this, to procure this movie for him.

“This is ... Thank you, Ben. This is really nice of you.”

Ben shrugged again, and Hux could swear that the boy was blushing, as he replied, “It’s not a big deal. Plus, you know, I’ve never seen this before.”

Hux day up more fully. “Seriously? Well, get ready to have your mind blown by the best movie EVER!”

Ben laughed, and then the two of them settled down to watch this remnant from Hux’s childhood.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

“School spirit, a sense of belonging, a way to work out aggressions and tension, sportsmanship, exercise ... anything I’m forgetting?”

Hux shook his head. “No. Now we just have to put it together in a way that sounds coherent.”

Ben nodded and picked his pencil back up. 

It was late, but Ben was hard at work on an idea that he’d had a few weeks ago. He wanted to present an argument to the the school’s head dean that it would be beneficial for the school to create a boxing club. Boxing was something that Ben found calming, and one of the things he had been disappointed in when coming here was that no such thing existed.

So he went around the school, polling the other boys, and was pleased that 85% of his sample agreed with him that a boxing club could be a fun idea. He had gathered countless signatures on a petition, and he had requested an audience with the dean in order to plead his position.

Hux, being captain of the debate team, and a pretty fierce persuader, was helping him with that presentation. They had spent the better part of the early evening creating a giant foam poster board filled with images of famous boxers and their accomplishments, and now they were working on the speaking part of the presentation.

After awhile, Ben looked up at the clock, and grinned. 

“It’s midnight; make a wish!”

Hux looked up as well, confused. “What?”

“Make a wish. If you make wishes at midnight, they come true.”

Hux made a face. “Who told you that? Your fairy Godmother?”

“No, it’s just something I’ve always done. It’s actually a thing of trial and error, because I’ve tried to make wishes at other times, but they come true a lot less than ones I make at midnight. I used to wish on 11:11, which I guess is a more conventional time, and my birthday, which is 7:27. But 12 a.m. seems to work best.”

Hux just smiled and shook his head. “I’ll pass, Ben. Did you just make a wish?”

Ben nodded. “Yup. I wished —“

“No, no, don’t tell me! Then it won’t come true!”

“Shit, you’re right. Okay, let’s get back to work then.”

Hux nodded, and the two went on quietly for another hour.

... ... ...

Ben’s presentation went better than expected. It was him, two other boys, and Hux there for support, in the deans office. The man had been receptive to the boy’s points, and they were able to satisfactorily answer every question or concern he raised.

At the end, he shook each of their hands, and told them that he had to run their ideas past the school board, and once he had, he would get back to them on their decision, likely before the end of the week.

Leaving the office, it was clear that Ben was happy. 

“I was so nervous during that,” he told Hux as they went back to the dorms. “Was my voice too shaky? Did I speak clearly enough? Was —“

“You did so good that it’s scary, Ben,” Hux answered him reassuringly. “You should consider joining my debate team. You can be really persuasive when you want to be.”

Ben laughed and shook his head. “Thanks, man, but no. My adrenaline is pumping too hard after THAT, I can’t imagine doing it in front of an audience a bunch of times a week.”

“Well you never know, you might ...”

They stopped, confused. They had reached their hallway, and standing in front of their door was a man and a woman, knocking.

“Mom? Dad?”, Ben said after a few moments.

Both of them turned from the door, and the woman began walking quickly down the hall towards them. When she got to Ben she threw her arms around him, squeezing.

“Baby! Oh, I’ve missed you so much!”

Hux looked at her. She was a rather beautiful woman. She had dark brown hair braided into a single long ponytail that fell to midway down her back. Like her son, she was pale, and she had the same dark brown eyes. Unlike her son, she was very petite; her head barely came up to Hux’s chest.

She let go of her son, and turned to Hux. “Is this your roommate?”

Ben nodded. “This is Armitage Hux, but he prefers just Hux. Hux, this is my mom, Mrs. Solo.”

Hux reached out to shake her hand, and was caught off-guard when she threw her arms around HIM, as well. 

“Mom’s a hugger,” Ben says, his face turning red. By now Ben’s father had reached them, and he extended a hand to his son.

“Holy shit, kid; every time I see you it’s like you’ve shot up another foot.”

Mr. Solo was tall as well, although not quite as tall as his son. He had short brown hair, hazel eyes, and a very dark tan all over his skin, leaving Hux to deduce that he spent a lot of time outdoors. He was rough-looking and unpolished, a very stark contrast to his wife. 

When he got done shaking Ben’s hand, he shook Hux’s as well.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“We just thought ... well, it’s Saturday, I know you don’t have classes, and well, we just thought we’d come and see you, baby. Maybe get a personalized tour?”

Hux could tell, he could _feel_ , that Ben was nervous. His former good mood coming from the deans office had disappeared completely, and all that was left, was fear. Something about his parents being here made him nervous, and Hux ... absurdly, he found himself wanting to reach out, to HUG Ben. The feeling was so strong that he found himself folding his arms across his chest, gripping his elbows to keep himself still.

“A tour?”, Ben asked, calmly. “Okay, um, lets start with our place.”

He began walking ahead of his parents to the firm, and Hux walked ahead quickly as well, and when he caught up to Ben, he put his hand in his arm and asked,

“Hey, you want me to dip out somewhere? Leave you guys alone?”

Ben faced him, and the look on his face was so panic-stricken that Hux moved back a step, startled.

“No! Don’t leave me alone with them!”

By now Ben’s parents had caught up, so Hux didn’t have an opportunity to ask what he’d meant by that. 

The boys both gave them a short tour of the dorm, and an extended one of the campus. Ben was speaking slowly, as he pointed out the library, the gym, the club rooms, the cafeteria ... but the entire time, Hux could still feel that nervous, uptight energy bleeding out of him. It was almost as if Ben could feel that his parents were here for an ulterior motive ... and whatever that motive was, he wasn’t prepared to face it.

When the made it back to the dorms, Han said, “Let’s get out of here and go to dinner, huh? Hux, you’re more than welcome to join us.”

But this time Hux shook his head. “Thank you, but no. I’ve got a ton of homework I need to be working on. You guys go ahead; have fun.”

Han nodded, and said he was going to go and get the car. As soon as he disappeared around the corner, Ben turned to his mom and asked “Why are we going out to dinner?”

Let’s fiddled nervously with the front of Ben’s shirt, straightening his collar, before answering,

“Daddy and I ... well, we have some stuff we want to talk with you about.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“It’s, um, well we’ll talk at dinner sweetheart.”

She turned to Hux and gave him another hug. “It was so nice to meet you, young man.”

“You too, Mrs. Solo.”

She smiled and quickly walked away, taking Ben they’d be waiting for him out front.

“Ben, are you going to be okay?”, Hux asked him when Leia was out of sight. “I can say I changed my mind and come with, if you want.”

But Ben shook his head. “No. This is ... they’re here to tell me something bad. I can feel it in my stomach. Best I face it alone.”

He turned and went the same way his parents had gone down the hall, leaving Hux to stare after him worriedly.

... ... ...

2am, and Ben still hadn’t come home yet. Either his phone had died, or he was ignoring Hux’s timid texts asking if he was alright.

Hux had just about decided to go to bed, when the sound of Ben’s key turning in the lock made him breathe out a rush of relief.

But looking at Ben made that relief go away.

Ben’s hair was disheveled, and his clothes were so wrinkled it looked as though he had been rolling along the ground. His brown eyes were almost completely bloodshot, and the steps he took through the door were like those of a toddler just learning to walk.

“What’s UP, Hux?!” Ben whisper-shouted, as he stumbled into the room.

“Ben? What’s wrong?”

“Wrong. Nothing right. Everything’s wrong.”

He sat down on the floor by the front door, still laughing to himself, his head in his hands. Hux cautiously got out of his chair and approached him, kneeling beside him. Right away, the strong, sour smell of alcohol hit him full in the face, and his eyes widened in panic. Drinking was one of the cardinal offenses at Hosnian; those caught drunk were subject to many harsh penalties. And Ben ... his status being here was already a bit dubious.

“No ... nobody saw you come in, did they?”

Ben laughed some more and shook his head. “Quiet. Everything’s quiet and dead. Dead dead dead.”

As Hux watched, Ben pulled a small bottle of vodka from his inner jacket pocket. He unscrewed the cap and took a generous pull, his lips twisting up in a grimace.

“Where did you get that? Your parents didn’t do that, did they?”

“Nooooooo. They left me here. Walked back down hill. Paid man to buy at store. Sooo good; you want?” Ben slurred, holding the bottle towards Hux.

Hux gently took the bottle from his hand and set it on the floor. 

“Come on, let me help you up. Let’s get you in your bed, okay?”

As Hux helped Ben stagger to his feet, the latter started to babble some more:

“It’s my fault. Hux it’s my fault. I was bad and it’s my fault. Can’t fix it and it’s my fault.”

They made it to Ben’s bedroom, and Hux helped him to lay down. He pulled off his shoes and said, “It’s okay, you rest now. We can talk in the morning Okay?”

But Ben wouldn’t be quiet. He struggled against Hux to sit back up and continue talking.

“Divorce, Hux. Mommy and daddy getting divorced. It’s my fault, oh Jesus, it’s all my fucking fault!”; and then he burst into tears.

Hux did the only thing he could think to do: he sat beside Ben and put both arms around him, rocking him, patting his back, and trying to sooth him.

“It’s not your fault, Ben. Marriages just end sometimes. It happens. It’s not your fault.”

“It IS me! All that fucking shit with those guys, and fucking up in school, and the fights ... “

He broke off into another bout of sobs. Hux continued to hold him, offering soft words of comfort. Without really thinking about it, he lifted his hand and gently touched Ben’s cheek, wiping away tears. Ben looked up when Hux did this, looked right into Hux’s blue eyes, and Hux felt something dropped down from the pit of his stomach, to his feet.

Hux wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, but very suddenly, Ben’s lips were pressed into his own. Hux immediately pulled away in a panic.

“Ben! What are you —“

But Ben yanked Hux towards him by the forearms, and kissed him again. It was very quick but to Hux it felt like it was going in slow motion. He had time to notice when Ben’s lips went from aggressive to soft, so soft it was like touching rose petals. 

“Wanted to kiss you forever,” Ben murmured, gently pushing Hux back into the pillows. He kissed steadily down Hux’s neck, and Hux jumped a little when he felt Ben’s teeth sink in, before returning to his lips.

Hux ...

_He had wanted this too._

Had been wanting Ben, and denying his feelings on the matter for so long that he almost forgot they existed. But this kiss ... Ben’s mouth tangling with his, his hands on Hux’s waist, his warm body covering him like a blanket ...

_He **had** wanted this, too._

Unfortunately for Hux, his logical side caught up to him before he could let his passions swallow him completely, and he forcibly separated himself from Ben, moving out from under him. Getting shakily to his feet, he stuttered,

“Y-you, Ben, you n-need to go to sleep, now. Okay?”

Without waiting for an answer, he got up and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

The next day, Ben didn’t wake up until almost 1 in the afternoon. Hux was in two minds about him being awake; he wanted Ben to remember what had happened last night, but at the same time, he hoped Ben would chalk it up to being a strange dream.

When Ben stumbled out of his room, he looked really rough. His eyes were still red and he was squinting hard against what little light was coming through the windows. He shuffled into the kitchen to get a cup of the coffee Hux had made, and as he was doing so, he looked at Hux’s neck.

Hux’s neck, where there was a very prominent bite mark raised on his throat.

Seeing that made Ben’s eyes bug out, and he very nearly dropped his coffee on his toe. He didn’t say anything, but Hux could read his expression as well as if he had. It said, if there was any chance that last night had been a dream, seeing that mark completely shattered it for Ben.

He set down his cup, looking at Hux with real fear.

“Ben—“

But Ben turned on his heel and practically ran back to his room, slamming the door behind himself. Hux waiter a second, then followed him.

“Ben, please, open the door!”

A pause, and then a muffled “I can’t!”

“Please, Ben, I want to talk about it!”; then, thinking it would make Ben laugh, he continued, “You left a hickey on my neck — the least you can do is TALK to me about it!”

Suddenly, unexpected, Ben yanked his door open, and was all but shouting into Hux’s face.

“There isn’t shit to talk about! I was upset about my parents, and I was DRUNK! I made a mistake! I’m not ... Hux, I’m not gay, dude. I’m sorry I did that but it was just a mistake.”

And then he closed the door in Hux’s face.

Hux backed up a step, and felt a cold fire burn through his chest. 

A mistake?

It didn’t FEEL like a mistake.

All those things he said beforehand, all the sharing they had done with each other since moving in together, the laughs, the late nights ... their kiss may have happened because Ben had been drunk, but NOTHING about this felt like a mistake, to Hux.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Thereby followed several strained weeks between the two.

For the longest time, Hux lived in constant fear that one day Ben was going to up and tell him that he was moving out. Hux didn’t want that; aside from having REAL feelings for him, Hux had come to consider him to be a really good friend. He was the only one who got Hux’s quirky sense of humor, the only one he could talk to about any and everything going on in his life and in his head.

Or, at least, he could BEFORE this.

Now, Ben avoided him like the plague. When they were both home, Ben stayed to himself in his room, and when he WAS outside of it, either in the living room or the kitchen, he largely rebuffed Hux’s attempts at conversation.

One day, it got to be too much for Hux, and he marched himself to Ben’s room, knocking on the door.

“Yeah?”

“Come to the living room, there’s an emergency.”

He turned and walked away, going to sit on the couch. In a few moments Ben joined him. His face was sweaty; likely he had been lifting weights.

“What’s wrong? What’s the emergency?”

“This. This is. Me and you, this is an emergency.”

Ben stared at him in disbelief, then started to turn around.

“Not funny, Hux. I don’t have time for —“

But Hux jumped up and gripped Ben’s arm, forcing him to face him.

“You DO have time for this. And if you think you don’t, I’m going to find an alternate time. Say, 2am, standing outside your door and knocking until you let me in. We need to talk.”

Ben pulled his arm out of Hux’s grasp, scowling.

“I said what I needed to say.”

“Well, I haven’t. So sit the fuck down and let me SAY it, okay?”

Ben blinked, then, miraculously, did as Hux asked, sitting at the edge of the sofa. Hux sighed and sat at the other end, keeping space between them so that Ben wouldn’t feel any more uncomfortable than he already was.

“Okay, look, man. I get it. I get that you were drunk, and that kissing me was a mistake. I get that you’re embarrassed by it, and you’re shutting me out because you don’t want to face what happened. But man, I can’t live like this. I can’t. We need to go back to being friends. We need ... we need a time machine or something, to take that moment back. Pretend like it didn’t happen, and move on. Okay?”

Ben let out a sigh, and nodded. 

“Okay. Time machine. So, I’m Doc Brown, and you’re Marty Mcfly, and -“

“No; I’D be Doc Brown.”

“Why you?”

“Because I’m smarter, clearly!”

Both boys burst into laughter at this, and with the laughing came a much needed sense of relief. Ben was the first to stop, and he said, holding out his hand,

“Okay. I’m sorry, then, for being a jackass. Friends?”

Hux grinned and shook his hand. “Friends. And if you REALLY want to apologize for being a jackass, you’d pick up the phone and order me some Chinese food.”

Ben nodded, pulling out his cellphone. “Fine. Beef lo mein, right?”

“Right. And some shrimp egg rolls, please.”

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Another week passed, and a night came around where Ben had a date. She was a girl that he had met at one of the last mixers, and Hux watched, amused, as he went around the apartment trying to get himself ready.

“Have you seen my flannel shirt? It’s not in my room.”

“You left it in the bathroom.”

Ben went in there and brought the shirt out, holding it under his nose and sniffing it. Apparently his olfactory inspection yielded disappointing results; he balled it back up and threw it through his open room door.

“Dammit, now what the fuck am I gonna wear?”

“Where are you guys going?”

“Well, she’s into that whole poetry scene, so I thought I’d take her to that one coffee house, I think it’s on either Rand street or Cypress. Anyway they’re having a poetry slam tonight, figured she’d go for that.”

“Well, if you’re doing that, don’t wear plaid, wear all black. Black pants, black shirt, black scarf, and your leather jacket. That way you look all brooding and mysterious.”

Ben nodded as went off to change, leaving Hux staring after him. He still had feelings for Ben, but he had been studiously training himself to let them go, and just focus on being a good friend and roommate to him.

 _Nothing will ever happen between you two_ , he told himself, more than once. _May as well focus on what you CAN get._

Ben came back out about 20 minutes later, wearing an all-black ensemble like Hux had suggested.

“Is this alright?”, he asked Hux nervously.

“Perfect. Now you’re taking her to a poetry slam; are you planning on reading a poem yourself, or just listening and snapping?”

“Snapping?! Do people actually DO that at poetry things?”

Hux shrugged. “They do in movies, but, I don’t know, never been to one in real life.”

“But I can’t snap my fingers! I never learned!”

Hux smiled. “I never learned how to whistle, so, you know. No ones perfect; I’m sure she’ll understand that.”

“I just ... I need this to go well tonight. I can’t mess this up.”

“You really like her, huh?”

Ben nodded slowly, but he was looking away from Hux. “What’s not to like? She’s a ... pretty cool girl.”

He glanced at his watch, then pulled on his coat. “Okay, I’m leaving. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck. Hit a home run.”

Ben stopped and opened his mouth, as if to say something. Whatever it was passed over him quickly, and he just shook it from his head, smiled, and said “Thanks, Hux. See you later.”

... ... ...

Hux was still sitting up and reading a book, when Ben came back home. He heard the key turn in the lock and sat up, preparing himself. If Ben had brought the girl back home with him, Hux wanted to be prepared to tactfully head to his room, to give them privacy.

Ben walked in.  
He was alone.

Hux picked his book back up and said, casually,

“You’re home kinda early. So how was it? Where did —“

Ben was moving across the room quickly and silently, like a shark cutting through the water. He knelt by Hux and grabbed the book from his hand, and before Hux could even register what was happening, Ben was leaning up, both hands holding Hux’s face, and kissing him.

“Ben! What —“ Hux started, attempting to move. But Ben held on to him, refusing to let go. His eyes were open and he was looking at Hux with a very scared, almost pleading expression, as if he was terrified of the idea that Hux would pull away and end their kiss.

After Hux’s shock wore off some, something in him flickered. He closed his eyes and put both arms around Ben’s wide shoulders, pulling him as close as he possibly could.

Neither boy had any real clue of how much time had passed, of how long they stayed there, Hux in the chair and Ben on the floor in front of him, massaging each other’s lips. Hux’s heart was pounding so hard he thought he might pass out, and when the breathlessness became too much for him, he forcibly separated himself from his raven-haired roommate, panting.

“Hux, I really like you. I really care about you. I have since that first kiss, the one I called a mistake. Fuck, it wasn’t a mistake; how I _handled_ it was a mistake. I was scared, I guess.”

“Ben, you don’t have to —“

“No, I do. Let me say this, okay? I was scared because I’ve never done ANYTHING like that before. I was scared because that first kiss felt so GOOD that it was terrifying. Hux ... I went out with that girl. And she was pretty. You saw her at the mixer; wasn’t she really pretty?”

Hux nodded. “She was beautiful.”

“Yes. She was beautiful. And she was nice, and she was really funny. And I was SO excited to go out with her tonight, because I thought, this is what I need. This is what I need to fix me, to get me to start thinking ‘normally’ again. After the movies we went back to her dorm, and she ... she wanted to do it, Hux. She was pretty obvious about it. And we’re on the couch and she’s trying to kiss me, but I just couldn’t kiss her. I couldn’t. She took off her blouse and she’s sitting there in her bra and I couldn’t even LOOK at her. That’s never happened to me before! And it’s your fault!”

“MY fault?!”

“Yes, YOUR fault! Because I’m looking at her, and all I can think about is **you**! I kept thinking that I needed to come home to you, be with you. I got in a cab and left; I wanted to scream every time he hit a red light, because I couldn’t get here to you fast enough. But then ... I got here, and I ran up the stairs, but I ... I’ve been standing at the end of the hall for twenty minutes. Asking myself whether I was crazy, whether I was losing my mind. And then I walked in here and you’re sitting there, and I saw your stupid beautiful face, and it literally felt like my chest exploded, and I just ... I just —“

Hux interrupted him by grabbing hold of his face and pulling them into another deep kiss. Ben was right, this WAS terrifyingly good. Better than good, it felt **right** , in a way nothing else ever had before.

This time when they let go, BEN was the one who was left breathless. 

But, he was smiling.  
So was Hux.

Ben said, after he had caught his breath, “Tomorrow morning, I want to take you out to breakfast. We can go to that weird diner you like, the one with the flaming hash browns? I feel like ... we need to talk. About a lot of things. Is that something you’d like?”

Hux smiled and nodded. “I would. What time?”

“Is 9, 9:30 okay with you?”

“That’s perfect.”

“Okay, good,” Ben said, sounding relieved. He got up off of the floor and started to walk away from Hux, towards his bedroom. Halfway there he stopped, came back, leaned over Hux and very softly kissed his cheek.

“Goodnight,” he said, just as softly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight,” Hux said, watching him go into his bedroom and shut the door. He continued to sit stunned for quite a long time, trying to make sense out of what had just happened.

He looked at the clock: 12:01am. He had missed the ‘wishing’ time, but, today, he didn’t feel like he really needed it. His wish had already come true.

And so he put away his book and headed into his bedroom, eager to lay down and await whatever the morning would bring to him.


End file.
